Roanoke CWRT -“Is the Pope Catholic (or Confederate)? Examining Pius IX’s Diplomatic Attitudes Towards the Belligerents During the Civil War”

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Kevin C. Donovan

Gettysburg sentential

On Tuesday, February 10, 2026, Kevin C. Donovan will present “Is the Pope Catholic (or Confederate)? Examining Pius IX’s Diplomatic Attitudes Towards the Belligerents During the Civil War” before the Roanoke Civil War Round Table.

During the Civil War, the question of whether the Pope would support the United States or the Confederacy mattered a great deal. The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Pius IX, not only was a political leader in his own right, with a country, subjects and an army backing him, but an enormously influential religious leader.

The Pope was the undisputed leader of tens of millions of Catholics around the globe. Faithful Catholics looked to His Holiness for guidance. Politicians in key countries with large Catholic populations, such as France, the German states, Spain and the United States itself, were sensitive to Papal pronouncements. And Popes would intervene in the affairs of nations.

With three million Catholics in America Abraham Lincoln knew that the Pope had the power to influence the outcome of the Southern insurrection. A favorable Papal comment on the cause of the Confederacy or even – God forbid – actual diplomatic recognition could open the floodgates to European involvement in America’s conflict and bring disaster to the war effort. The Confederates also knew this, working to bring about just that result.

Kevin will explore how both the U.S. and the CSA sought to leverage sympathetic Catholic priests and bishops to further their respective war aims, including the CSA sending a clerical agent to Ireland to disrupt Union recruitment efforts. In addition, Kevin will show how the decision of CSA President Jefferson Davis to personally lobby the Pope came close to creating a diplomatic crisis for the Lincoln Administration.

While a story not as well-known as the battles we all read about, the stakes at play in this diplomatic warfare were unbelievable high, especially for a Protestant-dominated North which had a long history of anti-Catholic bigotry, but which now realized that it needed the Pope on its side.

Kevin is Vice President of the Roanoke CWRT, member of Emerging Civil War, https://emergingcivilwar.com, and an Associate Editor of North & South magazine. Kevin has written dozens of articles exploring various aspects of the Civil War, and has spoken to numerous Civil War Round Tables, including the American Civil War Round Table of Great Britain in London.

Date, Time & Location: Tuesday, February 10, 2026 (7:00 pm), Chapel of the Residents’ Center at Friendship, 397 Hershberger Road, Roanoke, VA, 24012. Admission $5.00 for Non-Round Table Members (and becoming a Round Table member is welcome).